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Tennessee's McGhee Tyson Airport recently received new walk-through metal detectors. However, airport officials said it is unclear when and if the airport will get full-body scanners. A Transportation Security Administration spokesman noted that there are currently 500 scanners at 78 airports. The TSA will determine whether to install scanners at additional airports after the fiscal 2011 budget passes.

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Cirrus Aircraft, the Minnesota-based airplane manufacturer, announced plans to open a new facility at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn. The company says the facility will be used primarily for aircraft deliveries and basic flight training.

Transportation Security Administration officers screening passengers at Tennessee's McGhee Tyson Airport discovered a loaded gun in a passenger's carry-on bag. Airport police seized the gun and cited the passenger on local charges. It was the second gun found at the airport checkpoint in five days.

Inadequate planning has led to inadequate use of full-body scanners at U.S. airports, according to a report by the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security. "TSA continued to use walk-through metal detectors, which are unable to identify non-metallic objects, to screen the majority of passengers; therefore not taking advantage of the advanced imaging technology’s security benefits,” the report said.

The Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority approved a lease arrangement for American Eagle Airlines to provide services for Frontier Airlines. American Eagle will handle ground operations for Frontier at McGhee Tyson Airport in Knoxville, Tenn.

Three airports in the New York area still have not received full-body scanners after being told they would have the equipment by September. Newark Liberty International, John F. Kennedy and LaGuardia airports will receive the scanners "in the coming weeks," according to the Transportation Security Administration. A TSA spokeswoman said travelers passing through the airports are not less safe than they would be at airports that have the scanners. She explained that the scanners are intended to move travelers through security more quickly than metal detectors, pat-downs and behavioral profiling.